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Supervisors OK use of courthouse grounds for Emerson event

T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Preston Schaaf of Emerson came before the Marshall County Board of Supervisors to request the use of the courthouse grounds during the National Sales Engineer Conference scheduled for Thursday. The board voted 2-0 to approve the request on just a day’s notice with Supervisor Carol Hibbs absent.

Although the request came on short notice just a day before Emerson was set to host the National Sales Engineer Conference (NSEC), the Marshall County Board of Supervisors — short one of its members — unanimously approved the company’s use of the courthouse grounds on Thursday afternoon and into the evening.

Preston Schaaf of Emerson came before the board to explain the request, apologizing for the last-minute nature of it but noting that they were waiting on some of the details to be worked out. As part of the conference, 100 college students from across the country will be competing in a sales engineering case study sponsored by Emerson and eight other companies. Schaaf said the goal is to show the students, mostly juniors and seniors who will soon be entering the workforce, the downtown area of Marshalltown with plans to set up food trucks and the bandshell with the community band and the Emerson band slated to perform.

“So we want to set up in the courthouse horseshoe. It’s a nice accessible location. It’s walkable from our parking lot with the really nice weather to bring the students up here and kind of show off a little more of Marshalltown than they’d otherwise see,” Schaaf said.

He added that Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce Tourism Director Dylan Does will be offering a short tour of the community for those who are visiting on their way up from the Des Moines Airport. As they opened the floor up to questions, Does said the event will run from 5 to 7 p.m. with the trucks — Clare’s Tenderloins, Last Ride BBQ and La Carreta’s food tent — coming in at 4 p.m. and the bandshell being set up around 2 p.m.

County Buildings and Grounds Director Lucas Baedke, communicating via Zoom, provided a few options for powering the event, and, after noting the grade of the horseshoe parking lot on the south side, suggested moving the setup to the northeast corner.

“I’m not saying we can’t accommodate the south side, but what you run into is some pretty steep grade changes that get a little weird for jacking up one side of the bandshell. It’s a hill,” Baedke said.

He felt there was plenty of power for the trucks and the bandshell on the northeast side, and Baedke offered to be around during the setup time.

“Other than that, it’s good by me as long as the board is good with putting it there. I don’t see any issues,” Baedke said.

Does said the new plan would showcase the “prettiest” side of the courthouse and provide more of a view of downtown. With a jury trial planned for Thursday, Sheriff Joel Phillips asked that the north entrance to the courthouse be blocked for added security. A motion to approve the request ultimately passed 2-0 with Carol Hibbs absent.

During the public comment period, rural Marshalltown resident Mark Wyant again raised concerns about the condition of 260th Street and Ridge Road around his home with ruts developing. With around 40 homes in the area, County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt said the plan is to pave the roads within the next few years, which departing Supervisor Steve Salasek had made a goal since he was first elected in 2016.

In other business, the board:

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved the reappointment of the three current Veterans Affairs commissioners, Bob Grimes, Dave Streets and Randy Kessler.

• Approved status changes for Jeff Robinson from Truck Driver 1 to Truck Driver 2 at an hourly pay rate of $31.38 and Nicholas Ruhnke from TD2 to TD3 at an hourly pay rate of $31.77.

• Approved a proposal from Calhoun-Burns Associates for 2025 and 2026 bridge inspection and rating.

• Approved a resolution for the use of UEI#VFBEY19SJRH5 by Secondary Roads and Conservation.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.

Starting at $4.38/week.

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